Rain, rain won’t go away, for Justin Verlander

Drew SharpSunday, October 09, 2011

Credit: AP

Tigers starting pitcher Justin Verlander walks back to the mound after giving up a home run to Rangers right fielder Nelson Cruz during the fourth inning of Game 1 of the American League championship series yesterday in Arlington, Texas.

ARLINGTON, Texas - The radar gun has been replaced by the radar map.

They don’t call them rain showers anymore. The official meteorological term for these baseball playoffs is a low pressure Verlander with intermittent delays. Perhaps commissioner Bud Selig should lend out the Tigers’ fireballer to the regions of the country affected the worst from drought conditions.

Give Justin Verlander the ball in Game 1, set the clock for around 9 p.m. and watch the heavens open up.

Once again, Mother Nature showed little regard for the prescribed playoff script, ruining a second straight Verlander start in a series opener. It took two hours, through two rain delays, to even finish the Tigers’ half of the fifth inning.

And finally, at 1:04 a.m. Detroit time, the Tigers had lost Game 1 of another series, 3-2 to the Texas Rangers. In the ninth inning, after a bunt single, Texas closer Neftail Feliz struck out the side.

The playoffs have been obviously frustrating for Verlander. It’s a high honor getting your team’s first start in a playoff series. But can you imagine how frustrating it is for those watching and waiting to genuflect at the altar of the game’s best pitcher - but their primary glimpse of him for the second straight game is sitting dejectedly in the dugout, jacket on, as the elements washed away another nationally televised showcase?

All of the buildup surrounding the beginning of the chase for the American League pennant Saturday night centered on the Tigers’ ace and how the Texas’ hitters might figure out the puzzle that eluded everybody this season.

The answer is pretty easy now.

Just start a rain dance.

If only the Tigers’ bats could start raining down key hits.

Verlander wasn’t at his mythic best. Perhaps more bothersome than the lack of cloudless skies was the lack of command from the inevitable Cy Young Award winner. He offered too many batter-friendly counts, too many offerings just off the corners. It was only a matter of time before a loaded lineup like Texas brought the thunder.

But the Tigers’ offense cannot escape culpability. Three times they loaded the bases against the Rangers and the only run scored came on a wild pitch just before the second rain deluge hit, triggering a delay of 69 minutes.

Should we really be surprised?

Look at the Tigers’ recent history in the opening games of playoff series. It’s one big black cloud.

Combining 2006 and 2011, they have lost four of their five opening games. Once again they have placed themselves in a situation where they must win Game 2 or find themselves in an even more precarious position from what they are accustomed.

The clouds coming from the west looked dark and ominous prior to the game’s first pitch. They need rain down here. It has been distributed with an eyedropper this summer. A little precipitation was dearly appreciated, but not if it once again drastically reconfigured the starting rotation for the remainder of the series for both teams.

Raindrops fell in the bottom of the third inning, but it was nothing compared to the monsoon that turned the second inning for Game 1 at Yankee Stadium into an aquatic exhibition. But rain gained ferocity in the top of the fifth inning, Tigers’ trailing, 3-0, with Ramon Santiago on second following a lead-off double.

About 15 minutes after the grounds crew brought out the tarp, they pulled it off with promising news that the worst of the storms were tracking north of Arlington.

MLB executive vice president Joe Torre told Fox that the showers that halted the game in the top of the fifth inning didn’t materialize on the Doppler 15 minutes before the rains fell.

The game resumed at 10:23 p.m. Detroit time - a 41-minute rain delay. But it negatively affected Texas starter C.J. Wilson, who more than ably stood his ground against Verlander through the first four innings, holding the Tigers scoreless despite them having three runners in scoring position in the first two innings.

Austin Jackson doubled home Santiago on a 2-0 pitch. Wilson then walked Ryan Raburn on four consecutive pitches as well as giving Miguel Cabrera a free pass, loading the bases for the second time. Jackson scored on a wild pitch.

But as soon as Wilson intentionally walked Magglio Ordonez to load the bases once again, the rains fell again.

Another rain-shortened Verlander outing creates another interesting decision for Jim Leyland as this American League Championship Series evolves. Verlander threw 82 pitches in only four innings - unusually high even for a power pitcher known for accelerating pitch counts.

Does that preclude Leyland from pushing Verlander up from his regularly scheduled Game 5 start Thursday afternoon at Comerica Park to Wednesday’s Game 4?

Does bringing in Rick Porcello to pitch two innings after the second rain delay mean he might miss a scheduled start in this series all together, considering if Verlander goes in Game 4, he could possibly come back for a Game 7 here next Sunday?

Leyland already made one potentially critical decision, leaving the injured Delmon Young off the ALCS roster and elevating Cabrera to the No. 3 spot in the batting order for one of the few occasions this season.

Young’s absence leaves a significant void. He was without question the offensive most valuable player in the divisional series with those team-record tying three home runs against the Yankees. He swung the bat well during Friday’s workout. The Tigers were hopeful, but he stiffened up soon afterward, unable to his raise his arm due to a strained oblique muscle.

But situations like these are exactly why Leyland relied on his entire 25-man roster all season. The unforeseen usually happens. Get ready. Step up. His legion of critics - a suddenly much quieter fraternity I might note - relentlessly hounded him for not pounding his horses until they’re frothing at mouth from exhaustion. But Leyland adroitly found the right spots for his role players - a little Don Kelly over here, a lot of Santiago over there.

But outlasting the Rangers through a best-of-seven series demands that the big hitters produce. Where’s Victor Martinez? Where’s Alex Avila?

It’s October and the Rangers are the lone star this weekend in the Lone Star.

The Cowboys are idle, still extracting the thorns from its ego after last week’s historic collapse against the Lions. Quarterback Tony Romo reportedly spent a few days in Las Vegas, momentarily escaping the virulent criticism. But it’s believed that while at the craps table at the Bellagio, he threw the dice and an opposing player intercepted them.

The Mavericks’ defense of their first NBA championships remains an indeterminately held hostage of the owners’ lockout. Even Saturday’s renewal of the storied Red River Classic between ornery next-door neighbors Texas and Oklahoma was simply prelude locally to the American League’s best offense dueling the league’s best pitcher.

The expectations are different now for the Rangers. Frontrunners see things much bigger. It really didn’t matter that the Rangers didn’t beat San Francisco in the World Series last fall. They got there! For the first time! Nobody expected it. That first time, you’re just happy getting the invitation to the party. Getting through the door was more important. Who cared where they seated you.

It’s comparable to the Tigers’ surprising 2006 run to the American League championship. Falling short in the World Series could hardly be categorized as disastrous when taking the initially diminished expectations into consideration. Who honestly thought they would win the pennant?

But the Tigers and Rangers are similarly upward trending AL clubs. The winner of this series will have more American League pennants (two) than other team during that period - including attention-suffocating New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox.

This could be the beginning of a familiar pattern through the ensuing years.

It also shouldn’t be forgotten that the top two payrolls didn’t even make it out of divisional series. The Yankees and Philadelphia and their combined 199 regular-season victories are sitting home. An open checkbook doesn’t guarantee driving home the runner from third with one out or the two-out RBI.

According to USA Today’s figures, the Tigers have the highest remaining payroll of the final four teams - $106 million, placing them 10th overall.

There are plenty of reasons why a Tigers-Rangers series could attract the masses nationally and provide the nation with a very entertaining show.

If nothing else, Selig can offer a Verlander Umbrella Night promotion for Game 1 of the World Series.